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by between 150 and 200 accessions. Here, however, I saw reason to deplore the divisions of English Presbyterians. Besides our own, there are two other churches in Alnwick connected with the United Presbyterians. This is surely most undesirable, even though all the places of worship be well attended. A Church in England, holding itself to be an apanage of a Church in Scotland, must soon be numbered among the things that were.

The only thing I regretted was, that my time did not permit me to visit Morpeth, which may be considered the metropolitan town of our Northumbrian diocese, where a handsome church has lately been erected by the large congregation, under the inspection of its venerated pastor, whom all his brethren now congratulate on the well-won academical honours conferred by his native university.

The eastern district of Northumberland, forming what is called the Presbytery of Berwick, is thickly studded with our churches. Numerous, however, as they are, and in some instances placed too closely together, they are, almost without exception, in a thriving condition, under the ministrations of young, well-educated, and earnest pastors. In the town of Berwick we have now a good and flourishing congregation. The same may be said of Tweedmouth, Belford, and other places in its vicinity. In Crookham, a village lying near the famous Flodden Field, the communicants number upwards of 600. I had an opportunity of seeing their strength displayed at a monster soirée, which is held only once in three years. At Horncliffe I had the pleasure of seeing a beautiful church and manse, which have been lately erected, indicating how much the ministrations of their pastor are appreciated. In Lowick, too, which lies opposite to Holy Island, the cause seems to be prospering.

Before concluding this hasty sketch I may give expression to a few general reflections, which have been suggested by my visits. It is a mistake to suppose that our congregations in the north are in a weak condition, struggling under difficulties, or oppressed with poverty. The Presbyterians of Northumberland are a hardy, sober, industrious, intelligent people; economical in their habits; but, as a general rule, in easy, and in many cases, even affluent circumstances. Accustomed themselves to a simple mode of living, they may not cherish very high notions of the requirements of a Christian minister, and have not been habituated to expend much of their hard-won means in the department of Christian liberality. And hence the low figure at which some of them may have appeared in our reports and schedules. So far, however, as I could judge, their ministers are now maintained in comfort; and they have only to learn, what I have no doubt they will by training and experience, the blessedness, as well as the obligation, of giving for the cause of Christ, looking beyond the walls of their own chapels, and feeling the links that bind them to their fellow Christians and their brethren of mankind.

This result may, I think, be fairly anticipated from the awakened interest which they are beginning to manifest in Divine and eternal things. Throughout our churches in Northumberland, as well as in those in Newcastle Presbytery-some of which I visited last year-nothing struck me so forcibly as the intense silent listening, especially on the part of the young, to the simple preaching of the Gospel. Surely this is a token for good, an earnest of better things to come. Should the spirit of revival be poured out on these churches, none will be readier than they, under wise and warm-hearted guidance, to lend a helping hand to the work of evangelisation, both at home and abroad. Another thing was strongly impressed on my mind, viz., the aggressive character of Presbyterianism. Episcopacy and Independency halt at the

Tweed. Once on Scottish ground, and you find that both of those systems are exotics, which can only maintain a precarious existence in our larger towns. But Presbytery has surged over the border, and pushed its way over a large section of the English soil. Much of this, doubtless, may be traced back to the time when John Knox, and others laboured in Berwick and Newcastle, and to the stormy days of the Covenant, when such men as Veitch, and Erskine, and Peden, were driven to seek refuge from persecution in Scotland, and laboured successfully among the wild population of Reedsdale and the borders. But much also is due to the essential tendencies of Presbyterianism and its adaptation to the spiritual wants of the people. The Presbyterian population of Northumberland is, of course, thoroughly English. And it admits of being proved that Presbyterianism had spread itself beyond Northumberland into Durham, and even Yorkshire, where many excellent ministers were ejected, and where Presbytery was put down only by brute force. The history of English Presbyterianism has yet to be written. Ignorance only can assert that it has no historical associations.

Another feature, which cannot fail to strike all who have visited the various districts of our Church, is the happy harmony, in doctrine and worship, which prevails among them throughout all the variety of modes which may be observed in almost every one of them. There is a family likeness in all, with something in the lineaments and expression which distinguish each from the other. For my part, I like this diversity in unity. The only point in which I felt stumbled was in the matter of psalmody. I am so constituted that, like Mr. Spurgeon, I cannot preach comfortably unless I hear the people sing heartily, and in proper time and tune. When there is so much improvement in the pulpit, why should there be so much deficiency in the desk ?

In fine, as I was most kindly received by my brethren wherever I went, it is my earnest hope that my visits may be as productive of good to them as they have been of pleasure to myself.

HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCH.*

WITHIN the last two years various works of importance have been published on Scottish history. The carefully executed "Domestic Annals of Scotland," by R. Chambers (to be continued, we are glad to see, until the '45); the work of Cosmo Innes on "Medieval Scotland;" the handsome and portable edition of the best of the Scottish Ballads, by Professor Aytoun; the recent reissue of the cream of William Dunbar's Poems, by James Paterson; all have powerfully tended to bring before the contemporary reader Scotland in the olden time. The work before us forms a fifth literary production well worthy of being named with those above alluded to. It has evidently been the consequence of long-continued and industrious research. Writing from the quietness of one of the most beautiful localities of which even Perthshire, the queen of Scottish counties, can boast, Mr. Cunningham has not had his valuable book issued amid the one-sided plaudits of any city coterie. No popularity of fuss and splutter has accompanied the issue of his History. It is no sectional or partisan book, got up to catch momentary attention, and to be as much the forgotten of to-morrow as the noticed of to-day. The candour and impartiality, at which it is the fashion of merely denominational critics

"History of the Church of Scotland." By the Rev. J. Cunningham, Crieff. Edinburgh, A. & C. Black. 2 vols.

to sneer, but which all true historians study to observe, have been carefully practised by the author of these handsome volumes. Mr. Cunningham has given a due proportion to the various periods of his narrative. No one-sided love of the Reformation has induced him to blink or thrust into a mere corner of his story the services to civilisation rendered in the better portion of the medieval era by the Scottish Church. He has not ignored the merits of Wardlaw, Kennedy, and Elphinstone, because of the cruelty of Beaton, or the luxury of others of the later Romish prelates. We would have wished a more full and detailed account, however, of the chief architectural glories of the Scottish Church of the middle ages. The great work of Billings† (not sufficiently encouraged we fear), and the admirable essay of Mr. Joseph Robertson, have, no doubt, done somewhat like justice to the men who reared the beauty of Melrose and the majesty of Elgin; but still Mr. Cunningham might have given a larger proportion of space in the early part of his first volume to these and similar noble products of old Scottish Church architecture. After three centuries the injuries of that incomparable art are partially avenged. Each Scottish sect now vies with its neighbour in reviving imitations, hurried perhaps, and flimsy too often, but still honestly meant and in the right direction of the art which the "rascal multitude" and the far censurable covetous baronage of the Reformation and following times had involved in, or abandoned to destruction. No preceding era in Scotland since the time of Knox was so prepared to welcome the space which, in a second edition, we hope the minister of Crieff will give to this subject.

Mr. Cunningham has given the Reformation story at great but not needless length. His character of Knox is an eminently just one-a picture, not a partisan daub. The succeeding contests between Presbytery and Episcopacy are also described in much detail. Here some more of those anecdotes, which give interest to M'Crie's "sketches" and Simpson's "Traditions of the Covenanters," might with advantage have been afforded to the reader. We have never seen the process of Professor Simpson so well described. The rise of the two last century secessions is fully and honestly told; the faults of both Church and Dissent are candidly dealt with. Nor are the fortunes of the Scottish Episcopalians and Romanists left untold. The whole of the Church history of Scotland is presented in a comprehensive picture. The state of education, the condition of agriculture, and other subjects of general interest, receive their share of notice.

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Some few slips occur. The author speaks of a "Duke" when he should of a "Marquis" of Athol, as at the Tricentenary Dr. Begg spoke of a martyred "Duke" when it should have been "Marquis of Argyle. "For long afterwards" is an inelegant expression; "touching pathos" is tautological; and to speak of Wodrow as a "devout attender on Assemblies," is like newspaper slang. Some few sermonic platitudes also will, we hope, be weeded out in a new edition. Then also, we hope, there will be given some of those comparisons or contrasts with other parts of Church history which add interest to the narrative. At present the story has, from the want of these, a somewhat bare and isolated look.

We part from Mr. Cunningham with high respect. Belonging to another Church, we yet view with interest the communion to which he belongs, and would congratulate it that in him there is one more to add to the names of Caird, Tulloch, and others, who have grown up since the mournful necessity of the Disruption, unmixed with party strife, and meeting with general appreciation.

* "Baronial and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland."

WILSON'S DEATH.

SINCE the first startling news of the horrible mutinies, Calcutta had not received so severe a shock as when the death of the man to whom all eyes were turned as the only one capable of leading the country safely through the present crisis was announced to the public. On Saturday evening, the 11th day of August, 1860, at 7 o'clock, as the pitiless rain poured down on the deserted streets of the Indian capital, in a house in Chowringhee, James Wilson breathed his last. That night the news spread far and fast through official circles; and, perhaps, the wires had conveyed the mournful message from one end of India to the other ere a few hours had elapsed. In the morning, as the eye traversed the familiar view of the plain, the shipping, and the fort, it involuntarily rested on the flagstaff, where the red flag of England was wont to flutter, and no flag seemed to be there. Another glance sufficed to show that the flag was there, but there was not a breath of air to stir its heavy folds-the flag was half-mast high! Silently the faithful emblem clung to its support; gloomily the clouds hung over the city; coarsely the raven croaked, as the hot and sickening air weighed down the spirits of men, who saw now such an uncertain future for India before them. There was many an anxious mind that Sabbath morning. It was the day of rest, and the day set apart by Christians for the public worship of their God. There were no political meetings to be thrown into confusion by the sudden public calamity; there were no little gatherings of commercial men to exchange their views on public affairs, and on this all-absorbing topic; but the quiet day was spent in the solemnities of the sanctuary or the retirement of home. Every thoughtful mind was left to its own musings, to the feeling of awe which the mysterious acts of God produced. Many a prayer was sent up from faithful pastors, surrounded by earnest congregations, to the Throne of Grace, beseeching the Almighty to soften all hearts by means of his inscrutable ways, and to lead men to put their confidence in him alone. It was, indeed, a glorious opportunity for the evangelist to renew his pleading with men, for Christ's sake, to be reconciled to God. The proud were brought low, the confident became feeble, and the wise foolish, when they saw that the government of this world was in higher hands than theirs. How often are we led to forget God when engaged in the busy pursuits of every-day life. We recognise his authority, as it were, in religious matters, without recognising it in every phase of human life. Life is regarded by the Almighty as a great unity, and because we do not always so regard it, he arouses us from our delusive dream, and teaches us that his eye is upon all men, beholding the evil and the good; that he rules among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth; that he putteth down one and setteth up another.

These were the thoughts that filled all serious minds in the Indian metropolis that memorable Sabbath. Even those who were thoughtless and looked little above this world's occupations and amusements, were constrained to recognise in this event the finger of God.

In the afternoon the usual notices were handed from house to house, inviting all who wished to attend the funeral. In the burning climate of

This paper has been sent to us by a young friend who lately belonged to one of our congregations in London, but is now holding a responsible position in connection with the newspaper press in India. The subject, is both interesting and instructive.—

ED. E. P. M.

India no fond delay may take place, but the mortal remains of even our dearest friend must, within twenty-four hours, be buried out of our sight. At half-past five, as the sun was sinking in the west, a large number of gentlemen assembled in the house of Dr. Macrae, where lay the body of the departed. As the mournful procession commenced the minute guns boomed from the ramparts of Fort William. At every corner fresh carriages joined the triple row, until the wide street leading to the cemetery was choked up with vehicles of every description. Before arriving at the gate of the cemetery most of the gentlemen in carriages were obliged to get out and walk the remaining few steps. Before the gate stood the beautiful state carriage of the Governor-General, drawn by four horses, and escorted by a few of his body guard, dark, handsome men, in full uniform, with blue-and-white turbans on, and mounted on splendid chargers. The coffin was borne from the hearse to the grave by six British soldiers. This office is usually performed by the "domes," natives of very low caste. It was Wilson's wish to be borne to his last resting place by soldiers, and it was only another of the many affecting tributes to his memory that this was cheerfully complied with. When the coffin was laid down beside the open tomb, the immense mass of spectators silently drew round it in a semicircle. The six soldiers stood beside the grave, and at one end of it stood Mr. Moule, the clergyman, who conducted the service. Opposite to him, at the other end, stood Mr. Halsey, the son-in-law of the deceased, who was chief mourner; next to him Mr. Gibb, another relative, who had arrived from England that very morning, only in time to attend the funeral of the man whom he had come out from England to assist in his financial labours. Behind these two gentlemen stood two others; the one was of middle stature; he was dressed in black, with the well-known ribbon of the Bath across his breast. He had the appearance of an ordinary English gentleman, of middle age, but with an indefinable unpleasantness of expression. This was the viceroy, Lord Canning. At his right hand stood a singular-looking man, in military uniform. His peculiar appearance was chiefly owing to his sandy, curly, uncombed hair, which hung about his face and over his brows like a lunatic. This was Sir Hugh Rose, the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of India. Behind these personages were assembled the various members of council, and heads of civil and military departments, some in uniform and others in plain clothes. In the long, scattered line, could be distinguished the noble, intelligent face of the man who has, more than any other, acquired the esteem of the capricious inhabitants of Calcutta, Sir Barnes Peacock, the Chief Justice, and Vice-President of the Legislative Council. His less esteemed coadjutor, Sir Mordaunt Wells, the Puisne Judge, stood near him. The semicircle included almost every military man, civilian, merchant, lawyer, doctor, and minister, and the Europeans of every grade and profession, in Calcutta, besides several East Indian and native gentlemen, who, by their presence, exhibited their respect to the deceased. In a solemn and impressive manner the beautiful burial service of the Church of England was read. As the words "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust!" were pronounced, the handful of earth was in the usual manner thrown into the grave, and spread an awe over all hearts as it rattled on the coffin. When all was over, the Governor-General and many others stepped to the grave and looked at the coffin, whereon was the brief inscription, "The Right Honourable J. Wilson. Died 11th August, aged 54." When the last words of the service were uttered, another voice was heard, saying the words, "Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble." A human being of an humble rank in life was being laid in his grave at the same time; and as the eye

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